Archive for May, 2009

I don’t have a lot to say about today’s strip other than you will see this story continuing next week. Also, that’s maybe my favorite middle-panel of all time. What luscious, amber-hued locks that mofo must’ve had in college! All the ladies swooned during critiques, of this I am certain.

Steve Gordon of RDQLUS dropped by the recording studio to discuss critiques. What do you want in a critique of your design? We all have various opinions, but do find some common ground in this fast-paced episode.

The recording went by so fast we forgot to even mention that it’s the last one being recorded at the current Eleven19 corporate headquarters, as I’ll be moving to a larger office a mere four blocks away this weekend.

So, what do you look for in critiques? Do you agree or disagree with our thoughts? Leave your comments and opinions below.

I had this wonderful conversation yesterday with my partner in crime, who is producing some goodies for people attending the HOW Conference. I won’t spoil it, but should you spot Donovan Beery and perhaps drop a secret password on him (or perhaps not), you may receive something of perceived value. What I can tell you is, when you see this package of fun, you will find a piece of it is dead sexy in white type reversed out of a black background. I take 100% full credit for this design direction, as the first panel of today’s comic was essentially the entire above-mentioned conversation. Black type on white will always fall to white type on black. Always. It’s like math.

Hello! Welcome back from Memorial Day, I guess. As a working man, 4-day weeks always mess up my clock. Let’s pretend it’s Monday and call it comic day. We’re still going to pretend tomorrow is Wednesday, which it is, so we’ll have a comic then, too. Then Thursday is podcast day, and everyone will live happily ever after.

I want you guys to check out The Brads, if you haven’t yet, and add it to your bookmarks in a folder called “Awesome Webcomics Based Around Design” right after 1PT.Rule. It’s a weekly, but creator Brad Colbow makes up for fewer updates with full-color and an ability to weave the very structure of comics in a web-based format into the humor of his strip that I find myself very jealous of. Check it out.

Since Wednesday, there have been developments in the ongoing Nebraska License Plate Debacle. And by developments, I mean the kind head-removal-from-anus that cannot be called anything other than “heroic” in the world of politics. What was once stonewalling and inability to admit failure has transformed into someone in local government actually standing up and saying “you know what? This is a little fucked up right here and we may have to do something about it.“

Throughout it all, the gang at CollegeHumor.com (which has only been identified as “a college humor website” by the local press — subtle, right?) has floored me as the strut about as some bizarre peacock-unicorn hybrid with their insistence of victory and balls-out unapologetic manner. They remind me of those two dudes who punked Boston with the Moonenite graphics for Cartoon Network a year or two ago. It’s sort of totally awesome. If I lived anywhere else I’d give that guy a high five. Living here, probably I’d fake the high-five and punch him in the balls.

But really, if these recent developments hold, his actions will actually guarantee that the worst option never gets made into the newest license plate, something we should all be thankful for, should it come to pass. The real problem here is how the designs themselves are “commissioned” and selected for presentation for the state to vote on. Until that’s fixed, we’re all just picking out our favorite turd to smear our cars with.

Donovan Beery

\\ Bio

Donovan oversees all creative development at Eleven19 Communications, Inc., where he also serves as an owner. He received a bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication & Design from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

His background in visual communications, web design, and creative concepts were put to good use when he was the chief web designer at Union Pacific and the corporate identity and web designer at Nexterna. He’s lectured on web design at Creighton University, taught visual communications at Metropolitan Community College and proudly served seven years on the board of directors for AIGA Nebraska. In 2009, Donovan was appointed by Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey to a three-year term on the Omaha Public Art Commission.